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Thomas Hildern
|height =1.025 |actor =Jude Ciccolella |dialogue =ThomasHildern.txt |edid =ThomasHildern |baseid = |refid = }} Doctor Thomas Hildern is the Director of Operations of the Office of Science and Industry (OSI) East, living in the Camp McCarran in 2281. He is a colleague of Angela Williams. Hildern can be found in his office located inside the Camp McCarran terminal building in the southeastern area on the ground floor of the terminal. Enter through the leftmost entrance of the terminal building. Background Hildern is an intelligent man, who received a complete education from a Followers of the Apocalypse center of learning,The Courier: "So who *did* train you?" Thomas Hildern: "Before the bombs, I might have studied at any number of colleges, universities. They gave a man a chance to advance himself... or so I've heard. But after the bombs - until a few years ago - anyone with half a brain had one choice. The Followers of the Apocalypse. Didn't matter if you agreed with them or not. You either played along or you were turned away." (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) although he did not agree with their egalitarian views.The Courier: "And what do the Followers believe?" Thomas Hildern: "Knowledge for knowledge sake. A society of equals. They purport to be intelligent people, and then they spout this old-world dogma." (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) In fact, his disagreement resulted in him joining a group of like-minded people and the formation of the Office of Science and Industry, a splinter organization of the Followers focusing on finding practical application for knowledge, rather than research for knowledge's own sake. However, Hildern is dissatisfied with the end result and considers executives at OSI Central in Shady Sands to lack direction. For him, it'd be best to establish strong leadership, stop coddling "free spirits" and keep everyone in line focusing on certain, well-defined goals.The Courier: "Doesn't sound like a good place for a person of ambition." Thomas Hildern: " " (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) As Director of the Eastern division, Hildern supervises his team on optimizing the power output of Hoover Dam and other local energy production facilitiesThe Courier: "You said you were the Director of OSI?" Thomas Hildern: "Director of the entire OSI? Me? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to plant seditious ideas in my head. Ha ha ha. No, I direct our eastern operations. I've been responsible for squeezing unprecedented levels of power from the Dam. I'm also confronting the problem of food production, in what little spare time I have. But I've found some promising leads." (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) and supervises various contributions from the OSI to Republic-funded projects, such as the NCR sharecropper farms.The Courier: "What other responsibilities does this office have?" Thomas Hildern: "We aid some programs the Republic has sponsored involving sharecropper farms in the area, but those haven't panned out too well from what I hear. There've been complaints about the amount of water we're supplying, but those are just excuses for lack of diligence, I'm sure." (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) As a side project, Hildern also oversees research into the problem of projected food shortage in the Republic. Currently, the food shortage is not a problem, but from conducted studies, it's been projected that the NCR's population will grow significantly in the next decade and would lead to mass food shortages as production can no longer meet demand. The NCR has been granted permission to Hildern preemptively research a solution.The Courier: "NCR has a food shortage?" Thomas Hildern: "Not yet. But our government understands the value of proactive thought. Our studies project an imbalance between production and consumption. Or, for a layman such as yourself - not enough food, too many mouths to feed. Mass starvation. In a decade or so." (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) Officially, they are making little progress, though Hildern has identified a potential breakthrough: Vault 22. However, since any expeditions to the Vault would need to be sanctioned by the OSI and risk undermining Hildern's career prospects, he does it under-the-table, without any official authorization from the Office and filing the necessary paperwork.The Courier: "What contract? You cut an under-the-table deal with me." Thomas Hildern: "SUCCEEDED You're saying that I didn't file the proper paperwork, is that it? I suppose you're an expert on NCR procedures?" The Courier: "Then it wouldn't matter if I mentioned our deal to the colonel?" Thomas Hildern: " " (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) He sent in total about eight to ten people to their deaths in the Vault, with the final contractor being Keely (although Hildern personally believes she wages a personal war on him and the OfficeThe Courier: "Believe whatever you want. It's the truth." Thomas Hildern: " " (Thomas Hildern's dialogue)). It is unknown if Hildern actually does any research.The Courier: "He seemed focused on results. Maybe not so much on people." Angela Williams: "SUCCEEDED He's not what you'd call... warm. Unless he wants something from you. And even then, it's kind of a cold warm. Most of the time, I focus on the science and try to forget him. He doesn't get mixed up in any actual work. Though he tells people that he does." (Angela Williams' dialogue) He is, however, known to take credit for the work others do.The Courier: "So Dr. Hildern takes credit for your work?" Angela Williams: "He sure does. Everyone knows it. I've just got to endure this job until the project is finished. But abandoning Keely... he crossed a line. Taking credit for other people's work is one thing. Sending people to die in the waste is another. If Hildern tries to recruit any more mercs, I'm going to warn them. What can he do to me? I'm the only one who can run this lab." (Angela Williams' dialogue) Personality Although Hildern puts on the facade of a calm, rational researcher, he is in fact quite ambitious, hoping to prove himself to President Aaron Kimball and earn a promotion to an OSI Central executive. He shows his more violent side, when he reacts with fury and overt threats should the data from Vault 22 be destroyed,The Courier: "The plants in that vault were dangerous. We destroyed the data." Thomas Hildern: " " (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) as he considers it NCR's best bet to avoid the projected famine in Republic lands, though he is apparently more concerned about his unofficial pet project as a guarantee of advancement in the OSI ranks, rather than salvation for the Republic.The Courier: "No problem. I can wait." Thomas Hildern: " Here, then... as promised. An agreeable sum, payable upon delivery of the data. You've more than done your part." (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) However, his confidence in himself, the OSI and the government freely enters the realm of total arrogance.The Courier: "I'd be careful with that data. You didn't see those plants in the Vault." Thomas Hildern: " " (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) To make things worse, he is quite careless with the lives of OSI outside contractors, contrary to his claims of putting great value on them and significant benefits.The Courier: "I'll think about it, and maybe I'll be back." Thomas Hildern: " " (Thomas Hildern's dialogue) Others describe him much less positively. Apart from taking credit for the work of others, he is also considered by at least one scientist contractor, Keely, as a politician, not a scientist, and one that more often than not stands in the way of true discovery. His subordinate, Angela Williams, also compares him to a deathclaw, when he goes up against Keely, who also has a habit of embarrassing him in front of important people.The Courier: "How do Keely and Hildern get along?" Angela Williams: "Like a brahmin and a deathclaw. Though I'm not sure which would be which. Bad analogy, maybe - they're both deathclaws, in their way. Keely hates Hildern. She says he's more politician than scientist, and gets in the way of true discovery. And Hildern hates Keely because... well, because every time they meet, she makes him look like an ass. In front of important people, usually." (Angela Williams' dialogue) Arcade Gannon, a Follower of the Apocalypse, looks at what Hildern is trying to achieve as objectively good but espouses that his "big picture" mentality puts him at odds with what he's trying to achieve. Especially when people he's meant to be helping are simply another number in a ledger.The Courier: "" Arcade Gannon: "Hildern is a good example of "big picture" obsession gone too far. At some point he became so fixated on large scale results that he lost the concept of "the common good" along the way. It's an inhumane kind of public service when people and the basic resources they need become numbers in a ledger." (Arcade Gannon's dialogue) Interactions with the player character Interactions overview Quests * There Stands the Grass: Hildern sends you to Vault 22 to retrieve some data that no one else has been able to. * You Can Depend on Me: Alice McLafferty sends you to deliver an invoice to Hildern. * ED-E My Love: Talking to Hildern will trigger ED-E's first audio log. * For Auld Lang Syne: Talking to Hildern is one of the triggers needed for Arcade Gannon to begin the quest. ** If the Courier chose to destroy the data in There Stands the Grass, Hildern will not offer any dialogue thus making it impossible to use this as a trigger for For Auld Lang Syne. Inventory Appearances Thomas Hildern appears only in Fallout: New Vegas. Category:Fallout: New Vegas human characters Category:Fallout: New Vegas scientists Category:Fallout: New Vegas NCR characters Category:Followers of the Apocalypse Category:Camp McCarran characters de:Thomas Hildern es:Thomas Hildern ru:Томас Хилдерн uk:Томас Хілдерн